Kenyans living and working abroad sent home a record $4.94 billion (Sh640.75 billion) in the year ended December 2024, marking 18 percent growth that shattered the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) estimates.
CBK data shows the growth was from $4.18 billion (Sh542.89 billion) inflows in the previous year, with December 2024 crowning the record performance with all-time monthly remittances of $445.4 million (Sh57.1 billion).
Last year’s growth pace was above the 17.5 percent that CBK had projected, translating into daily remittances of Sh1.76 billion into the country.
CBK said the US accounted for 51 percent of all the remittances, showing its significance to Kenya’s foreign exchange basket.
The last five months posted the strongest performance. August had set a record remittance of $427.2 million (Sh55.35 billion) before October set another bar of $418.5 million (Sh53.7 billion) that has now been overtaken by the new record in December.
“The United States remains the largest source of remittances, contributing 51 percent of total inflows in 2024. The growth in remittances continues to support Kenya’s current account and stability of the exchange rate,” said CBK.
CBK revised upwards its annual growth forecast for remittances four times, as the strong performance persisted during the year. The regulator had initially forecasted a five percent growth before revising this to 12 percent in mid-year and then 16 percent and finally 17.5 percent.
The 18 percent jump in remittances is one of the fastest annual pace of growth given that in the previous five years to 2022, remittances from Kenyans abroad had averaged Sh460.83 billion, growing by four percent in 2023, according to CBK data.
CBK conducts a survey on remittance inflows every month through formal channels that include commercial banks and other authorised international remittances service providers in Kenya.
The US has the highest number of Kenyan migrants (157,000) followed by the United Kingdom (139,000), according to the International Migrant Stock 2020 dataset by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Since 2015, diaspora remittances have been the largest source of foreign cash flows to Kenya, surpassing tourism, foreign direct investments and key agricultural exports such as horticulture and tea.
Currently, Kenya tops in diaspora remittances in the eastern African region and the amount the country receives constitutes the single largest source of foreign currency ahead of major crops and tourism.
Kenya’s current account deficit has been narrowing, from 5.1 percent of GDP in 2022 to four percent in 2023, mainly due to improvements in the trade balance and secondary services, particularly remittances. The CBK believes this could fall below four percent if diaspora remittances exceed the 12 percent target.